The Leadville Trail 100
https://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~sws/fun/runtales/lead96.shtml
Last modified: 02/08/02 04:46:49 PM
Date: August 24-25, 1996.
Course: From Leadville, Colorado (elevation: 10,000),
across the Arkansas River valley, around Turquoise Lake,
over Sugarloaf Pass, through the foothills of Mount Ebert
(highest in Colorado), through Twin Lakes, over Hope Pass
(elevation 12,600), to the ghost town of Winfield. Then back.
Composition: Trail, dirt road, some pavement.
The Official Leadville Web Page
Some quick notes
THE COURSE
A lot of fun. Many thanks are due to Dana, for his
excellent course description
MY RUN
The first fourteen hours were a blast. The second fourteen
were hell. (But Colorado is known for its fourteeners, isn't it?)
POST-MORTEM
I had an excellent sixty miles. With both crossings of
Hope Pass out of the way, I was well on schedule to a large belt
buckle when my stomach gave out. Quesy after Twin Lakes. Puking
after Halfmoon. Not really eating much after that, which led to a
long, cold walk home.
BRUSH WITH GREATNESS
A mile out of May Queen, my stomach got really
shaky again. On rocky lakeshore, I didn't want to stop to...uh...
take care of things. Then, looming in the sunrise, was the outhouse!
And not just an ordinary outhose---it had lights (so I didn't have
to try to hang my lamp up somewhere), running water, and (best of all)
heat!!!
I nearly fell asleep. And thought: that would have made me the perfect
candidate for next year's "Horse's Ass Award": did 95 miles of Leadville
well within the cut-off; DNF'd because he fell asleep in an outhouse.
But it was not to be. With no energy to run, I walked on in at
28:24, 83rd place. No pacers, as usual.
THEN WHAT
Monday after the race we drove back to Los Alamos, New
Mexico. Primary mission: get the race gear clean and dry before the
movers show up on Wednesday to take our stuff to New York. (Perhaps
my timing for Leadville and moving across the country was not
optimal.)
